A Gwinnett County judge recused herself Friday from presiding over the case of a former Cub Scouts leader accused of molesting or sexually exploiting 16 children.
Superior Court Judge Debra Turner said it was because her campaign chairman was the defendant's divorce lawyer.
Turner is the fifth judge to recuse herself from the case of Harry Brett Taylor.
Five judges remain in the circuit; one of them will be randomly assigned to the case, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said.
Turner had been assigned to the case for just seven weeks. It fell in her lap after Superior Court Judge Karen E. Beyers was ordered to step down. A defense attorney had raised concerns about the appearance of bias, because Beyers' staff attorney is a former prosecutor who worked in the district attorney's office at the time the case was indicted.
Three other judges voluntarily recused themselves from the case. The judges did not disclose their reasons for doing so in their respective orders.
Porter said he believed it was because they had some sort of professional or community connections with Taylor, who was once on the steering committee for Leadership Gwinnett and is a former library board member. Leadership Gwinnett is a Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce leadership development program with more than 800 alumni.
Taylor, 47, has been in jail without bond awaiting trial since July 2008.
He was arrested after an 8-year-old boy said he was molested during a sleepover at Taylor's house in Lawrenceville. After police began investigating, 15 others, including some of Taylor's relatives, came forward alleging that Taylor either had inappropriate sexual contact with them, made them undress in front of him, or photographed them naked.
The sleepover was not affiliated with the Cub Scouts, but the boy knew Taylor because Taylor was his Cub Scout den leader, police said.
Prosecutors said about 1,000 photographs involving alleged victims were found when police seized and searched cameras, computers and photographic equipment from Taylor's home.
Taylor has pleaded not guilty. His defense attorney, Walt Britt, did not return a call Friday seeking comment.
Porter said he hopes to put Taylor on trial later this year.
